1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a disposable, collapsible, portable urinal, and more particularly, a male urinal.
2. Background art
In the past several years, a variety of portable urine-retaining devices have become available. A majority of these devices have been designed for medical use either to segregate a desired amount of urine for laboratory analysis, or to accommodate patients who are unable to use toilet facilities or are unable to control urine emissions. Although some of these urinal devices are disposable, few allow for compact, detached transport by the user, and none provide a self-contained method of sealing the device after use. Consequently, none of the prior art urinal devices can be discreetly and detachably carried before use while providing for sealed transport after use to a place of disposal.
In a medical facility, where permanent disposal fixtures are readily available for receiving the contents of a used portable urinal device, the need for a means of sealing the urinal after use is not acute. Likewise, in a medical facility portable urinal devices of any shape or size can be kept in convenient proximity to the patient, precluding the need for a portable urinal capable of discreet detached transport by the patient. However, where permanent disposal fixtures are not available when one has the need to urinate, a portable urinal device equipped with a means for being sealed is imperative to provide for hygienic retention of the excreted urine. Furthermore, because such a urinal device would likely be carried on one's person before use, it would be advantageous for the device to be collapsible so as to permit the device to be discreetly carried in one's pocket.